Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties
through my love for the truth;
and truth rewarded me.
Simone de Beauvoir

Proactively changing your life may push you to the edge of your comfort zone. It is not easy to drop old friends, give up your preferred watering hole, or change jobs. I made these changes over a period of time rather than all at once, but when I looked at those experiences in my life that were serving me and those that were not, the decision to change was easy. I sought what felt more enjoyable, and walked away from those experiences that were not.

By changing your language, you can make a conscious effort to empower yourself in your day-to-day interactions with others. People who use expressions like "I can't....; I have to..., I should...; I ought to..., I'll try-, If only-., He makes me feel-" are still responding to early programming of their bio-computer, and are not taking here-and-now, pro-active, responsibility for their lives. You might want to note when you use any of these expressions, or when you feel the matching emotions of guilt or anxiety. It will then be a good time to adopt phrases like "I will -., My preference is-, I'm determined to-, It is my choice to-., The action I'm taking is-."

Your language will alert you
to whether you are thinking like a Winner or not.
Be alert to what you say.

Many of us have for years enjoyed - yes, enjoyed - blaming others or circumstances for what has happened to us. Many of us were conditioned as children to believe that "life happens to you" rather than "life is created by you". Operating out of this belief system, it seems as though we have no control over life's vicissitudes; making it seem sensible to blame others for what happens to us.

It is now time to wake up and realize that our view of outer reality is determined by the way we use the filters of our senses, beliefs and interpretations. These filters tell us what is happening 'out there', and 'in here,' but often do so inaccurately because our programming means that we only see, hear and feet what we have been programmed to see, hear and feel. However, we can change this when we can detect that our perspectives are distorted, and often disempowering.

The past is gone forever, if we will let it go - and we must if our Now is to be a more enjoyable experience than our Yesterday. Much of what follows in this book is to encourage you to proactively make changes in the way you perceive life - especially yourself - so that you can move on from trauma or limiting perspectives developed in your past.

Letting go of the past is a conscious choice.
Today is the first day of the rest of your consciously created life.


(Excerpt from The 12 Choices of Winners, Book 1 in the Spiritual Life Mastery Series, by Jeffery Saunders. The associated cartoons cannot be displayed.)